Amy Watson to represent Australia in Poland at the World Cup of Indoor Skydiving

IT’S not every day that you hear of an 11-year-old skydiver.

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It’s not every day that you hear of an 11-year-old skydiver.

Dean Park’s Amy Watson is not only the Australian champion for junior freestyle in the sport of indoor skydiving, but is also heading to Poland next month to represent Australia in the World Cup of Indoor Skydiving.

The young star is flying high.

“I feel free in the tunnel,” Amy said.

“No one can tell me what to do; I just have fun in there. It kind of blocks my mind out of everything.’’

What started as a fun experience quickly grew to a serious sport once coaches spotted Amy’s talent.

After trying out indoor skydiving at iFly in Penrith, she started taking private lessons.

Parents Allan and Muay Watson are Amy’s biggest supporters.

Amy Watson with mum and dad.

“It is physically demanding — it is a 220km/h wind tunnel. A hurricane is 190km/h,” Mr Watson said.

“Amy is a head down flyer, meaning she can fly on her head. When you learn the sport, you first learn to fly on belly, then back, then head down. For most people it takes eight to 12 hours to learn, but Amy learned it in 5.5 hours.”

Amy has been training with reigning Open Freestyle world champion Inka Tiitto in Singapore and Sydney this year.

Tiitto, 29, of Finland, became the first ever Indoor Skydiving World Champion in freestyle at the first championships in Prague last year.

Amy is heading to Poland next month to compete in the world championships.

“Most people train about 10-20 minutes a day,” Mr Watson said.

“When Amy trains with Inka, it is for about two hours a day and can do up to 120 sky dives in one day.”

But Amy, who has been sporty since she was five years old, doesn’t let anything deter her.

“I fell a little bit nervous about Poland but I feel I can at least pull off top 5. If I can, I can show everyone that little kids can fly,” Amy said.

Competitors are judged in moves, degree of difficulty of the moves, performance and position over seven rounds in the World Cup in Poland next month.

Amy is a Junior Sports Star nominee. The awards are sponsored by Rebel. Nominate a young athlete at juniorsportsstar.com.au